Steps to Set New Year's Resolutions You'll Actually Keep

New Year, New You… right? Some people seem to really shine in the New Year with their resolutions and goals. However, if you’re like the majority of people who set out to accomplish more with this fresh year ahead, it probably won’t be long before you find yourself saying “Eh, I’ll try again next year.” So, what can you do to be sure this year is your year to shine?

Set Attainable Goals

Don’t set a goal that relies on other people or is something you can’t realistically do. If your goal is to become a platinum-selling rock star this year, but you’ve never picked up an instrument in your life, you might be setting yourself up for disappointment. It’s okay to dream big, but for this upcoming year, it’s better to...

Start Small

Smaller goals help us feel more accomplished when they’re completed. This turns into a domino effect with all our other goals and actions in life and gives us more self-confidence in our abilities. Going back to the rock star goal, maybe this year your goal is to finally take guitar lessons or write your first song. Start with your big picture in mind and break that goal down into smaller steps to be accomplished. You can easily do this with exercise goals as well, such as running a marathon by the end of the year. Start with that goal and date in mind and work backward, setting running goals for each month or week up to the marathon. Just know that when setting these smaller goals it’s all about…

Quality Not Quantity

Your goals do not need to have a numerical value tied to them. For example, while training for your upcoming marathon you might set a smaller goal of running a mile every day. This might not seem like a lot at first, but the first day you don’t run that mile (maybe you weren’t feeling well, the treadmill or track was too busy, etc.) you’re gonna lose major momentum. So how do you set a ‘quality not quantity’ type goal? Rephrase your goal to something more like “run seven miles a week.” Some days you might run three miles and others you might only run half of a mile. Each of these smaller accomplishments feels great when completed, but to keep your momentum going don’t forget to…

Give Yourself Rewards

Every milestone you hit on your way to your goal is something to celebrate! Just be sure that your celebration is not detrimental to your overall goal. For example, don’t have a cheat day on your diet for losing your first five pounds. Instead, make your reward a night off of working out to binge your favorite TV show instead or try a lighter workout than usual. This way your rewards are still something to help you celebrate but it won’t slow down your progress. No matter how great the rewards toward your goal may seem, you really need to...

Make Sure You Really Want It

Different things motivate us to act, but emotions are the main driving force. Switch mentions your logical mind as being a rider on an elephant, your emotional mind. No matter how much you tell yourself something like “I should learn Spanish.” your emotional side is going to have control of where you’re going. To battle this, you need to find an emotional connection to what you want to accomplish. Instead,  phrase your goal to be something more along the lines of “When I learn Spanish I can go visit Mexico and have conversations with locals like I dreamt of when I was younger.” Basically, have to trick your elephant (emotional mind) into believing that what your rider (logical mind) wants is what it wants too! There are so many ways to reach a goal but the most important thing to accomplishing any goal is to…

Focus On Your Goal

The book The One Thing changed how I spend each day. It’s some of the most simple pieces of advice but has had the biggest impact on our goals in life. Focus on your goal every day and how you can get even just the tiniest bit closer to accomplishing it. Author Gary Keller poses the question, “What’s the one thing you can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?” Take the stairs instead of the elevator to work towards your daily step goal, turn off your phone to reduce the urge for more screen time, make lunch the night before so you aren’t tempted to spend money on your break or clean out your cupboards of ‘junk food’ and replace snacks with healthy options. By focusing on your goal in even just a small way, every day, you’ll find yourself getting closer without much effort at all!

About the Author

Chelsey Hnyp is a craft beer enthusiast who loves adventures, Star Wars, the San Jose Sharks and her cat, Torpedo. Recently engaged to her best friend and fellow craft beer lover. She loves brewing and drinking beer as well as sharing her passion with others.